


Tell Me to Remember What Not to Forget

by VinVictory



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Amnesia, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Car Accident, Farm House, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Keith is a mystery, Keith is named with another name for the first few chapters, M/M, Slow Burn, Space Dad strikes again, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-19 02:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11303799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VinVictory/pseuds/VinVictory
Summary: "So, what would you like to go by?" Hunk repeats the question which was only answered by a shrug."How about 'pain in the ass'?" Lance says flatly."Dude. Ooh, how about 'fillet'?""Hunk, we're talking about a name here not a menu.""How about mullet? His hair style is so out of this century."The dark haired boy frowns. What's a mullet?Keith gets involve in a car accident and loses his memory. He has no idea who he was or what his name is. Luckily, a small family of siblings- who lives in a farm- takes him in. Except, one of them doesn't approve of his presence. Who knew that same person would be his significant other in the end. Join Keith as he goes through a journey in doing what we've been all doing since the very beginning: finding out who we really are.





	1. You Take Me By Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, guys! I'm back with a new story and this one will have updates up VERY SSSSLLLLLOOOOWWW. Why? School work, that's what. So, if you find this story interesting, you're gonna have to bear with me, please. Totally don't want to abandon this so every feed back and kudos gives me motivation!!~ Enjoy!

Lightning and thunder claps up in the dark sky, where clouds form and unleashes a light drizzle, but promises heavy rain. The wind blows gently, making the tall pine trees shudder in the silent area. Another harsh lightning and a loud thunder goes off and there shots a head up of a young boy from the ground where he lies. With frantic dark purple eyes, he looks from left to right, shaking his dark hair wet from the rain along with the movement. He heaves himself to sit up with the help of his palms, which he notice are covered in something wet and sticky, its smell like metallic. The dark-haired boy gazes at the scene infront of him and finds nothing but wet grass and pine trees. He squints his eyes and notice that there's a road beyond the trees. What he also notice is that there's a dancing yellow light coming from behind him, illuminating the rainy dusk. The young boy turns around and gasps.

The yellow light is actually a fire from a burning black car, which is turned upside down and it's perched right beside the river bank. He quickly stands up and can't help but letting his jaw drop at the sight. Especially when he realizes that there are actual people inside of the said vehicle. The young boy puts a hand over his mouth, then he flinch when he remembers its sticky-like texture -

Oh, god. It's blood.

He raises both of his hands up to his face and stare at it with utter shock and horror. It soon gets washed away by rain water. He looks back up at the burning car. He tries to come closer and see if he could save the two people inside the vehicle when it suddenly explodes. The young boy drops down and covers his head with his tainted hands. Car parts fly overhead and scatter away from the once whole vehicle.  
Lightning strikes once more as he gets up again, then the thunder follows, making him flinch. This time, he walks away from the disassembled burning car instead of just staring at it. It was no use in trying to see the faces of the people in it. The bodies are already burned. 

He was walking towards the road when he suddenly feels a sharp pain stab from the upper right side of his abdomen. Grunting in pain, he clutches it with both hands. He knew he was all wet from the rain, but this spot is unusually watery...and sticky. In confusion, he looks down at the painful spot and sees blood flowing rapidly from it. So that's where all of the blood from his hand had come from. How did he even got this wound? What happened? Who was he? Why is he even here? Where is HERE?!

He doesn't know, but what he does know is that he needs to get to the main road. He doesn't know why exactly. It's not like he could instantly get help in this late hour. Whatever the time is. But still, he moves forward, catching his breath as he pushes himself onward in each step he takes. His visions become blurry and it starts to spin. He narrows his eyes as a wind blows and rain hits his bare visage. Almost there. . .

The young boy starts seeing in double and he can feel his sweat mix with rain water. He grits his teeth as he leans against the trunk of a tree. With a heave, he pushes himself forward once more and carried on. Keep moving. . .

After a few minutes has passed, he's finally gone passed the pine trees. He suddenly trips at a tree branch and hit the cold, hard and wet concrete. Atleast he got away fron the fire. He pulls himself up and bends over to rest a hand on one knee, the other clutching his wound. He catches his breath as he watch his vision spin, as if dancing into some kind of twisted melody. Without realizing it, a bright white light flash from his right side. He whips his head around a little too fast and freezes at the loud sound it was making, kinda like a horn.

It was a car.

The boy can't move as it comes closer and closer. He was like a deer, frozen at the car's headlights. Eventually, he can't keep his eyes open as they start to flutter close, eyesight still spinning. The horn got louder and the light got blindingly brighter. Suddenly, his knees buckle beneath his weight and his eyes roll into the back of his head. He falls down and hits the ground and everything fades into black.

 

\------

 

He woke up to something soft underneath him.

For a strange, in-between moment, he thought it had just been a dream. That he just fell asleep on the couch or dozed off in class. But he can't remember which class was he supposed to be in. He can't even remember what school he studies in. Does he even go to school?

He groans and moves his head to his left side, eyes still closed. The young boy starts to hear muffled voices. He concentrates to get words out from the garbled noises. 

"...even know...guy might...can't trust..."

"He is in need of...severly...can't harm...right?"

"...need to calm...help him..."

He groans as his hearing starts to clear. Soon, he's able to understand what they were saying. The young boy was able to identify two male voices, and one female voice.

"All I'm saying is that we can't trust this guy." One of the male voices says. "Once he's healed, he can get the hell out of here. I don't want any strangers in this house."

"Lance," the female voice says with a thick british accent. "You have to be more considerate. We may not know him, but we do know is that he needs help."

The dark haired boy slowly opens his eyes, the sun hitting them, making him squint and flinch. He sees something coming up to reach his forehead and he grabs it with his hand by instinct. A hand grips his wrist aswell and its nails dig into his skin.The young boy fully opens his eyes. A couple more blinks and his eyes were able to adjust against the sun light in the small white room. He looks at what his hand had caught and realized that it was another hand, with slim fingers and polished long nails holding a white cloth. He blinks up at the woman whose hand belongs to. She has dark skin and silver hair gathered into a bun on top of her head. Her eyes are blue and cheeks have a strange rosy glow to them. She 's wearing a white blouse with sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a yellow skirt below as she sits on the chair beside his bed. She has this frightened look on her face, but it's mixed with somewhat calm and a reassuring one for him.

He finally acknowledges the hand that is taking hold of his. Its skin is also dark and he looks up at the man. The man has short brunette hair and blue eyes aswell. He's wearing a white shirt with blue sleeves down to his elbows. The man is scowling at him with grit teeth.

"If you hurt her," The man says in a low growl. "I will give you wounds and bruises far more worse than you have right now."

The young boy looks back at the woman and lets go of her hand. The man lets go of him aswell. He looks around the small room. The woman is sitting at his left and the man is standing at his right. There was nothing much in the room except for a small table and a window at each side of it and an open door at the front of the room. Another man, tall and large and has the same skin color as the other two, stands at the doorway with a concern look on his face. The young boy quirks an eyebrow when he sees the yellow bandana tied around the man's forehead. He was in a yellow shirt and in cargo shorts.

"I'm sorry," The woman speaks. "Lance is just a little over protective. My name is Allura and he's Hunk. You've been out for three days now. You were in a pretty bad shape when they found you."

He was about to speak when he coughs. His throat feels so dry. Allura asks Lance to give him water. Much to the man's disapproval, he gives in and pours him a glass from the small table. He shoves it infront of the young boy's face, a few water drops out of it. He gladly accepts it.

"How are you feeling?" Allura asks.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, then clears his throat. "...I'm fine...thank you...w-where are we?"

"You're in our house, in a farm. We're five hours away from the nearest city here. Lance and Hunk found you passed out in the road. They told me that they almost ran you over. I'm glad they didn't because you were already in a critical condition. Can you tell us what happened?"

"A-all I remember is that there was a car u-upside down. It exploded. There were two people in there. I wasn't able to get them out in time."

"How did the car crashed? Did you know those people? Were they your friends?"

His eyebrows pinch together. "...I don't know. I can't remember how it happened and I didn't get to see their faces. All I know is that it was dark and it was raining...and there was..."

He pushes himself to sit up and lean his back against the head board. He lifts the blanket up and sees his bare torso. He sees a long cut across his upper right abdomen, from where the blood was coming from earlier. It's all closed and stitched now.

"Ah, that. It was pretty bad. It wasn't that deep but there was alot of blood. I stitch them back close. If you move too much, it might snap back open so I advice you to stay in bed and rest until you feel better."

"Yeah, just stay in bed while we work our asses off around here to feed you."

"Lance." Allura hissed.

"So," Hunk suddenly says as he saunters at the foot of the bed. "I bet you're hungry. Lucky for you, I'm an incredible gourmet with an amazing palete." He chuckles. "Many people down at the restaurant in the city loves my recipes. Good thing Coran managed to get the taste. You'll love it - uh, what's your name?"

All of the three looks at him expectantly. He opens his mouth but he found that no words came. 

"I..." he finally says. "I don't know...I-I can't remember. I can't remember anything." His eyes widens and he pulls his hair with both of his hands. "Why can't I remember anything?!"

"Calm down, bud." Lance gently push him back against the head board with one hand on his shoulder. "Last thing you wanna do is go bezerk and might hurt someone. And if you do, I will not hesitate to bring you down."

"Lance, you're not helping!" Allura says before standing up to sit at the edge of the bed. She puts both of her hands on his shoulders. "Everything's gonna be okay. What matters here is that you're fine and alive. You just need to calm down and rest."

"How can I? I don't even know if I'm supposed two be here. Can either one of you tell me who I am and what happened to me?"

"I'm sorry, but we don't know who you are and how this happened to you. All we know is that you were badly hurt and that you needed help immediatley." Allura removes her hands from his bare shoulders. "We were hoping you could tell us by the time you wake up, but I guess it was false hope."

He looks down, lost for words. This is terrifying. He doesn't have a single memory save for what happened with that car explosion. He only has basic knowledge. Like reading, writng, talking and others. Otherwise, he'll be like an infant.

"Well, you gotta have a name to go with for the time being." Hunk states after a few seconds has passed. "What do you want to go by?"

"Does it even matter? He's gonna go anyway. I don't like him here. Why bother giving him names?" Lance says, arms crossed and face pulling into a frown.

"Lance, he is our guest and you will treat him with respect." Allura says.

"Woop-dee-doo!" He rolls his eyes.

The young boy pinch his eyebrows together. "I'm sorry if I did something wrong to you that I can't remember. I didn't mean to cause harm or be such a burden to such good people who helped me."

"Oh, now you're just acting nice to make me look like the bad guy. I know what you're up to - whoever you are."

"I'm sorry you think that way. But I hope all of you can somehow let me stay until I find out who I am. After that, I promise I won't be a burden anymore."

"Yeah, man. I totally, 100% want to let you stay. I could cook food for you. I love cooking food for people." Hunk says with a bright smile.

Allura holds both of his hands in hers. "Of course, sweetie. You can stay as long as you'd like. I do not mind." She looks at the frowning man. "Lance? What about you?"

He looks at Lance and they made eye contact. They gaze into each other before Lance sighs and drop his hands to his sides. "Fine. But I got my eyes on you."

He smiles. "Thank you."

He must've been seeing things, but he thought he saw a dark red color across Lance's cheeks. Before he could look at it again, the man has his arms crossed and his back turned to him. 

"So, what would you like to go by?" Hunk repeats the question which was only answered by a shrug.

"How about 'pain in the ass'?" Lance says flatly.

"Dude. Ooh, how about 'fillet'?"

"Hunk, we're talking about a name here not a menu."

"How about mullet? His hair style is so out of this century."

The dark haired boy frowns. What's a mullet?

Allura smiles, "How does 'Caiden' sound?"

He ponders for a bit before nodding with a small smile. "Caiden sounds okay."

"Alright, Caiden." She stands. "Hunk will be fixing you some food. We're gonna step out for a moment to discuss some - " She narrows her eyes on Lance. " - things."

The brunette rolls his eyes then walks out of the room, not forgetting to throw a dirty look towards Keith over his shoulder. Allura and Hunk smiles down at him, then leaves. 

A few minutes later, Allura comes back in with a tray in both hands.

"It's time to eat. You're gonna love this. Hunk has exquisite taste and we have a lot of witnesses to prove it. Or, you could just try the food yourself."

"Thank you...you're too kind."

"Oh, don't mention it. My heart is always open to people in need."

She places the tray on top of Caiden's thighs. Allura sits down on the chair beside his bed, watching intently as Caiden examines the delicious looking food on the tray. It was a piece of steak, over medium with lettuce and some potatoes on the side, drizzled with lamb sauce all around the dish. Allura giggles when Caiden's eyes lit up and his mouth starts to water.

"Go ahead, eat."

He picks up the fork and the knife, and does what he is told. As soon as a chunk of meat enters his mouth, he close his eyes as a low hum sounds from the back of his throat. 

"Delicious, isn't it?"

"Hmm."

"Everyone's like that when they first try Hunk's cooking. Then, they'll be looking for it all the time. Lucky for you, you'll be getting it for free."

He swallows. "Thank you again for all your kindness. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you people. Though it seems that I'm...unwanted here."

"Oh, you mean Lance? He may be a little overprotective and a bit too paranoid, but I know deep inside that he secretly wants to help too. After all, he's the one who told Hunk to drive you here for me to treat you."

"He did?"

"Yes. So, don't be a intimidated by his behaviour. He likes to help people just as much as I do. We are siblings after all."

"Oh, siblings." Caiden says as he shoves another piece of meat into his mouth. "Are you the eldest?"

Allura scoffs, "Do I look like I'm that old?!"

"Uh - n-no, not at all! That's not what I meant. I just thought that maybe you are since you act so mature, you know? I didn't mean to offend you, I - "

"I'm just playing with you, Caiden." She chuckles. "I know that's not what you meant. Yes, I am the eldest sibling. Hunk comes next then Lance is the last child. He maybe the youngest, but he's the one acting like the older brother when it comes to his loved one's safety."

"That's nice." He eats a potato. "But what made him so overprotective? Did something happened?"

"Uh...it's not really my story to tell. You could ask him, but I doubt he'll answer."

"Oh, I see. So, I didn't do anything to make him hate me that I can't remember?"

"No, not at all. And he doesn't hate you, Caiden. He just needs a little time to get used to you. Once you get onto his good side, you'll see how nice and fun he is to be with."

"As much as I'd like to, I have to focus on finding out who I am and where I'm from."

"Not when you're stuck in bed and healing. Take the time to heal your cut first, then we could start searching for clues. Uh, if we could find any...if there are any..."

Caiden makes a helpless expression on his face.

"I-I mean, of course there are! We just need to think positive and search at the right areas! Now finish your food so you could rest, okay?"

He makes a small smile before going back to his meal. 

Suddenly, Lance appears at the door with his hands on his hips and a stern look on his face.

"Is everything alright, Lance?" Allura asks.

"Just making sure that all is well." He glares Caiden, making the latter gulp the food he was chewing.

"It is. Caiden and I were just talking about Hunk's amazing cooking. He says it's amazing. Have you eaten yet?"

"I have. You should eat too, Allura."

"Oh, yes. After Caiden is done."

His glare deepens as he crosses his arms. "You don't have to take care of him. He's a man, he can take care of himself."

"Lance, we've talked about this. He is in bad shape. We need to look after him."

"Whatever makes him leave sooner, fine." He stomps his feet as he leaves.

"Honestly, he is stubborn." She mutters under her breath. "Please, continue eating. Do not mind him."

Caiden nods before shoving another piece of meat into his mouth. And he can't remove the taste of guilt of not remembering anything that seems to be stuck on his tongue.


	2. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caiden finds out a little something from Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I already finished this one a long time ago. Chapter three will be released after a long period of time since I'm still writing it. Enjoy!

Eyes wide in fear and hands hovering before his face, he backs away as the man infront of him throws plates and bowls at his direction. The young boy cowers from the far corner of the kitchen where two cabinets meet. He stares up at the man. The man has a white shaggy beard and a ciggarette in his mouth. He's tall and bulky, glaring down at him with pure hate even if the dark haired boy can't see the upper half of his face because it's dark there. He doesn't know who this man is, but what he does know is that he's terrifying. The man grabs a bowl from the counter then throws it directly to his face. The boy screams as he tries to cover his face and - 

A white flash.

He blinks at the scene before him and sees another man. This time, he looks older than the last one. He's thin and has no beard. He's wearing a suit and he still can't see his other half face because the place is not well lit. The old man was shouting something to him, but he's too afraid to understand him that he can't focus on his words. The man keeps on shouting and shouting 'till he unbuckles his belt and whips it out. He pushed him down the floor. When the boy looked over his shoulder, the man whips his belt at his bare back. He shrieks in pain.

Another flash.

This time, it was a woman in her middle ages. She's wearing a red luxurious mini dress and a gold necklace around her neck. She has short hair and scarlet lips contrast to her pale white skin. Unlike the previous scenarios, this place is bright and blindining. He can see her full face, but it's all blurry and he can't recognize her. She grabs his head and shoves his face down the toilet bowl. He tries to hold his breath, but he was caught off guard and some of the water went into his nostrils. The woman lifts his head up and shouts something at him while he gasps for air. Then, his head is pushed back down the toilet.

Another white flash.

It was dark and a man with a long beard sits on a couch in the dark. He has a lit ciggarette between his fingers and he motions him to come forward. The young boy stands infront of him. The man turns him around, tears one side of his shirt, then presses the butt of the ciggarette into his skin. He screams and screams. His lungs burns. It's so painful. He can really feel it burn his skin and it hurts so bad that he can't stop screaming and - 

"Dude! Wake up! Man, you're just in a dream! Wake up!"

He gasps and opens his eyes.

Once his vision adjust into the flourescent lit room, he sees Hunk staring down at him with a frightened look, his hands grabbing him by his shoulders.

"H-Hunk?" He asks weakly.

"Yes, Caiden. It's me, Hunk. It was just another bad dream, hm? You're okay. You're here with us, you're safe."

He stares at him with wide eyes as he tries to regulate his breathing. He can feel beads of sweat running down from his temple, his neck, and down to his bare torso. He flinches when he hears a yawn coming from Lance standing beside Allura in the doorway. They're both in their pajamas and have their on cases of bed heads.

"This is the fifth night of your 'bad dreams' since the day you awoke. If you don't be the man you are, we won't be able to get a good night's sleep! If that's what's gonna happened, you should leave. I had enough of this."

"Lance, don't be so inesensitive. Don't you remember when you were having your own bad dreams? Did I ask you to leave this house?"

"Of course you wouldn't! I'm your little bro!"

"And I am your big sister and I could still throw you out if you don't get your attitude right. It's either you can help Caiden calm down, or you might aswell retire to your bed room."

Lance glares at the frightened Caiden before going back to his bed room.

"Caiden, I need you to breathe slowly." Hunk says as Allura approach them. "Breathing can help you calm down. Inhale, exhale."

"N-No, I can't. I-I need...I need a mirror. Please, I need a mirror."

Hunk and Allura shared a look. Allura quirks an eyebrow. "A mirror? What for?"

"Please. I just need a mirror. Please."

Allura nods then went out of the room. She came back with a round medium mirror in her hands. Caiden asks her to hold it for him as he twist his torso to the left to see his back. His jaw drops.

Dozens of tiny scar marks the back of his shoulder, most likely the butt of a ciggarette. Then, long vertical scars run down his body. It must be the belt. The scars were dark in color and very noticeable on his pale skin. He looks at his complexion and notes that that's what he looks like. Caiden can see a small horizontal scar on his forehead when he moves his bangs out of the way. Might be from that bowl that hit him.

"Those scars...are they part of the car crash?" Hunk asks Allura.

"They're already there when I was treating him. I didn't ask since it's such a sensitive topic."

"No, it wasn't part of the car crash." Caiden says, voice dry and hoarse. "Allura, Hunk, these aren't just bad dreams or nightmares. They really happened to me."

Hunk frowns. "Tell us, what was your dream again."

"Same as the previous nights. Four different people, doing bad things to me as if for a punishment, that I did something wrong or I simply didn't please them. That's been going over and over these nights - "

"I know. I have bag under my eyes to prove it."

"Hunk!"

"Sorry."

" - and it's like I could really feel the pain. Then I realized that that wasn't normal. These scars are proof that it was real."

"Who do you think the people in your dream were?" Allura asks.

"I don't know. There wasn't a single dream that I could recognize or see their faces clearly."

"I wonder if these people were your family or something, and that they were abusing you." Hunk says. "Maybe that would make sense, right?"

Allura pinch her eyebrows together and gives Caiden a look of pity and sympathy.

"If it is true, I'm sorry for what has happened. But, you're with us now. You're safe. We could be your new family."

He drops his gaze, then, "That would be nice, but I need to figure out who I am."

"Right. So, his nightmares are actually scattered memories. I wonder if these nightmares are the key to figure out who you are." Hunk suggests. "But for now, sleep."

He stands up from the edge of the bed, taps Allura on the shoulder, then went out of the bedroom.

"Would you like me to stay with you?"

"No, it's okay. You should sleep too, Allura."

"It's alright. Do not mind me."

She moves to sit on the chair next to his bed when Caiden grabs her wrist. "Allura, please. Lance was right when he said that I should take care of myself. You need to go back to sleep."

"...Are you sure?"

Caiden nods.

"...Very well."

She saunters towards the open door, then turns the light off. she looks over her shoulder to see Caiden lying on his side and a blanket over his head. Allura closes the door behind her when she steps out of the room.

 

\- 

 

"Ooo! Pancakes!" Lance says as he enters the kitchen in the morning. "Allura, you didn't have to prepare some for me. I could get it myself. But, this is highly appreciated."

Lance grins as he bends down to the kithcen table and picks up a fork. He was gonna slice a piece when Allura slaps his hand away.

"What are you doing, you greedy little animal?!"

"What?! I was gonna eat this pancake!"

"It's not for you. You can get some of your own once Hunk is finsihed making the next batch."

"Can't you share? I'm hungry. Don't be so selfish."

"This isn't for me. It's for Caiden."

Lance's face fell. He stands up straight then crosses his arms. "Oh, you mean mullet head back there. You know, eversince that guy came here, you're so on to him 24\7."

"Says the guy who isn't." Hunk says from the kitchen stove as he flips a pancake. 

"Quiet Hunk!" He smirks back at Allura. "You know, if I haven't known any better, I'd say you like him."

"What on earth are you blabbering about now?"

"I don't know. The way you smile and talk around him? I'd say you have a crush on him."

"You're being totally ridiculous." She sets down a pitcher of orange juice and a drinking glass on a tray. She puts a plate of pancakes on it aswell. "You know it's how I really act around people." She side eyes Lance. "Except for you."

"No kidding. But that doesn't completely erase the fact that you like him."

"Alright, fine." Allura wipes her hand on her yellow skirt. "Yes, I do like him - "

"Aha!"

" - as a human being."

"Oh, please. It's gotta be more than that. Think about it. You haven't met that much men in your life. How about I get you a man you can have a good time with?"

"You're crazy. One day, you're all protective and disapproving and now you're trying to hook me up with the stranger on the guest bed?!"

"You mean mullet?! Oh, god no. I wasn't talking about him. I don't trust him and I certainly don't want him and you to be together. No siree. I was just thinking that you might be thinking about having a man in your life."

"Or it sounds to me that you're getting me to find a man of my own so you could get Caiden for yourself." She smirks.

"W - What?! No! Ew!"

"Don't deny it. You're jealous."

"No, I'm not! Why are we even talking about mullet here? I was saying that maybe you wanted to settle down now and have a family of your own, right?"

Allura's smirk fades. "You are my family."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"I know, but I'm not thinking of settling down yet. As your big sister, it is my responsibility to watch over the two of you."

"Are you sure? I was just thinking that you might feel...I dunno, trapped?"

She chuckles. "Oh, don't be silly. I love taking care of both of you. Plus, I'm really not thinking about those things yet. You however, are getting a whole lot of jelly."

He blushed. "I told you I'm not jealous of you being with mullet!"

"Jealous, as in, we're giving all of our attention to Caiden instead of you."

"I...I..."

"Don't be, Lance. We still love you, always and forever. You're still gonna be our baby brother." 

She steps forward to him with open arms. He whines and looks away, crossing his arms as a sign that he refuses to accept her hug. She wrapped her arms around him anyway. Eventually, Lance hugs her back.

"Alright, Lance. I'm - hey! Free hugs! Count me in." Hunk wraps his big meaty limbs around the two and squeezes them.

"Hunk...y-you're crushing....me~!" Lance says.

"Oops, sorry." He unwraps his arms. "Anyway, the second batch is done."

"Thanks, Hunk." Lance pulls a chair out from the kitchen table and sits on it. He smiles up at Hunk as the big man places a plate of pancakes infront of him. He happily chows down the food.

"Oh, dear." Allura says as she lifts up the tray she prepared. "Caiden's food is getting cold. I'll be back and - " She turns around to see Caiden going out of the guest room across the house. She yelps and drops the tray, breaking the glass pitcher and the drinking glass. 

Caiden's eyes widens, "What happened?"

"What happened - Caiden! You scared me." Allura puts a hand to her chest. "You're not supposed to be out of bed without someone assisting you. What do you need? A shower? Do you need to pee?"

"Allura, I'm fine. I can stand on my own now."

"Are you quite sure about that? Let me see your cut."

She approach him and place a hand on his bare abdomen. Caiden flinch when her skin touch his, but other than that, he wasn't bothered at the blunt gesture.

"It's closed now. You already removed the thread the other night, remember?"

"Huh...I did, didn't I? I suppose you can move around now, but don't move too much. Take it easy first."

"Thank you. I can help you guys now. I can start by cleaning up the fallen tray." He motions to saunter towards the kitchen when Allura suddenly stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

"No, I can handle that. But, what do you mean by...helping us?"

"Help you guys...around the house." He shrugs. "Stuff that I could help with."

"But didn't you say that you'd rather find out who you are instead?"

"Uh, right. But that doesn't stop me from trying to repay those people who helped me. For the mean time, I'd like to help."

Caiden sarts walking towards the kitchen when Allura stops him again.

"Not when you're shirtless. You might catch a cold. Lance!"

The brunette shoots his head up, mouthful of pancakes. "Wurt?!"

"Go lend Caiden a shirt."

"Ergh?! Bert er aready gerve hem da parts hes wearang!"

"I can't understand you when your mouth is full."

He swallows. "I said, I already gave him the pants he's wearing!"

"He can't wear just that in his stay here. Give him some of your old clothes."

Lance whines and glares at Allura.

"Oh, wait." Hunk suddenly says beside Lance. "Would you rather see Caiden shirtless? He is a great view, isn't he?"

"N-No he's not!" Caiden can see a dark shade of red on Lance's cheeks. "Ugh, fine! I'll go get the mullet some clothes."

Lance stomps towards his bedroom while Allura and Hunk snickers behind his back. The young boy quirks an eyebrow, not understanding what they're snickering about.

"Go with him." Allura shoves him to the direction where Lance went. "It's your chance to finally get to know each other." 

"Huh? But what about - "

"Hunk and I will take care of it, don't worry. Now, go!"

Another push and Caiden saunters towards Lance's room. The door was half open, but he still rapped his knuckles against the wood.

"...Hey."

"Oh, god. Can't you wait outside?"

"Uhm, Allura told me to wait for you here?"

"Was that supposed to be a question?"

"I- uh..."

Lance sighs in exasperation as he opens his closet and starts rummaging his old clothes.

"If you haven't guessed yet mullet, I don't really like you around here. If it weren't for Allura, you'd be out of here the moment you woke up the first time."

"Uh, yes...sorry. Um, by the way, I never had the chance to thank you."

"Thank me for what?" He starts throwing clothes on his bed. "For being 'insensitive' like Allura had said I am?"

"No, for telling Hunk to rush me to Allura so she could treat me. If it weren't for you, I don't know where I'd be right now."

Lance stops rummaging through his ward drobe, then slowly turns around with a skeptic look. "You remember that part?"

"Not exactly. Allura told me."

He groans. "What else did she tell you?"

"Nothing else. Just that. So, uh, thank you."

"Whatever." He goes back to his search operation. "I only did that because I don't wanna see any dead people on the road where Hunk and I always drive to everytime we go to the city."

"Then you could have just pushed me off the road and back down to the edge."

"B-But you would just go back up, huh?"

"But I would be dead by then."

A shirt hits Caiden's face.

"These are the clothes that I could lend you until we could buy you new ones. They're old but I think it can still fit you."

"Wait, buy me new clothes?"

The tip of his ears burn to red. "Uh, yeah? Are you deaf, mullet?"

"No, I heard you clearly. It's just...that means you're gonna let me stay longer since you're buying me new clothes?"

"What? You want to go naked around this house?"

Caiden smiles at him as he lets out a breathy chuckle. He can see the blush on Lance's cheeks as the man scowls at him.

"That wasn't really funny at all."

"It was for a little bit. Uh, thank you. I swear, I won't make you regret it."

Lance gives him a blank stare before scooping up the clothes he gathered on his bed, then gives it to Caiden. "Get these clothes back to your room and step out to have breakfast. Allura must be waiting for you."

"Yeah..." For the first time, Caiden looks around the brunette's room and notice how well organized it is. The bed is made, the cabinet tops are clean as well as a few photo frames of him, Allura and Hunk. He sees two posters up the left side of his room. One is a NASA poster and another is an astronaut giving him a thumbs up while in zero G. "Oh, I see you like space?"

"I what?"

"The posters?"

Lance follows his gaze then his expressions softens. "Oh, yeah. I used to like astronomy."

"Used to?"

"Things didn't work out well for us so I had to be more realistic in certain things." He crosses his arms. "Why am I even telling you this? You probably just think it's dumb like everyone else does."

"What? No." Caiden smiles. "In fact, I like space too."

"You do?"

"Yeah! Well, I may not remember when I started liking it exactly, but I can feel that I used to have an interest in this before my memories got jumbled. So no, I don't think it's stupid. It's pretty cool."

Caiden can see the slight quirk of the corner of Lance's lips, promising the beginning of a smile. Sadly, his frown deepens. 

"Like I care if you think it's cool or whatever. Can you please step out now? Goddess, you're so annoying."

His smile drops. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'll go then..."

Lance notice his crestfallen face. When Caiden was about to leave, he clears his throat. Caiden stops and looks up at him.

"Uh, t-thanks for...saying that...it means a lot actually..."

Instanly, the young boy smiles brightly and to Lance, it's blinding.

"It really is. Maybe we could talk about space sometime, if it's okay with you?"

"Sure thing, mullet head. Now, go away and eat breakfast."

"Yes, sir!" He opens the door then leaves.

Lance comes out afterwards and saunters towards the kitchen table to continue his breakfast. Along with him are Hunk and Allura sitting opposite to him as they eat peacefully.

"So," Hunk says after a while. "Did you guys have a chit - chat?"

"What?"

"You know, did you and Caiden share a conversation?"

"Caiden was smiling when he left his room. I've never seen him smile like that since he got here." Allura says with a knowing grin.

"Yeah! You made him smile like that, Lance."

"Oh, god. Will you two just drop it already? Nothing happened! It was just silence, alright?"

Allura smirks, "Your cheeks are burning up."

"What?! No! Shut up!"

Caiden steps out of his room. This time, he's wearing a plain blue sweatshirt and black jeans. The young boy starts sauntering towards the kitchen as he runs a hand through his hair.

"So, uh, how do I look?" He asks nervously as he stands infront of them. Allura says that the clothes suits him, Hunk gave him a thumbs up, and Lance is trying really hard on not choking on his food of how attractive mullet head is in his old clothes. "Uhm, are you alright?"

The brunette abruptly stands up with his empty plate in his hands, then walks past Caiden, hitting him with his shoulder as he passed, making him stumble for a bit. The man dumps his plate into the sink then goes outside the screen door.

"Umm, did I say something wrong?"

"No, man." Hunk says as he pulls a chair. "Come on, sit and eat breakfast. We could use the extra muscle around here. Let's talk about the chores that you'll be helping with."


	3. We Can Make This Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which these boys has a bit bonding time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's so hard to balance writing and School work. But I enjoy writing this fanfic so I hope you enjoy reading it! :)

Caiden heaves up the last heavy crate into the back of the dirty old and blue pick up truck. He wipes the sweat off his forehead as he squints through the bright and blazing sun. The young boy hops on the back of the pick up truck, then taps at the side of it to signal Hunk - who's behind the wheel - to start driving. The big man starts the engine and they begin their short trip to the red barn. 

The wind blows through Caiden's soft dark locks as he dangles his legs off the edge of the truck. The air is refreshing and the grasses are a vibrant green color. In the distance, he can see the house in full view. It wasn't that big but it wasn't that small either. The walls are colored in white while the roof aswell as the window frames and the doors are colored in a dark shade of brown. He moves his eyes to the right and he can see an old dark blue minivan just a few steps away from the said house. He was studying the minivan's features when the driver's door suddenly opens and a certain brunette steps out of it. Caiden quirks an eyebrow in curiousity.

Lance wipes his sweaty face with the end of his white t-shirt as he walks towards the hood of the car. He opens it and dips his hand into the engine. Caiden can see the man groan and kick one of the front wheels of the minivan. The young boy shakes his head, then he notice the few number of trees here.  
There are several other structures in this hella big farm and Caiden likes to think that there aren't any strange animals there.

Eventually, the vehicle stops and Hunk steps out of the car. He greets him with a smile when the big man stands infront of him.

"Alright, buddy o' pal. Ready for another round of lifting?" 

"Yeah. I've been lying on a bed for days, I'm down to put some elbow grease."

"Nice. Let's get started."

Caiden jumps down from the truck as Hunk starts lifting a crate and carrying it towards the barn. The big man drops the crate on the dusty ground, then opens the big barn's doors. When Caiden follows his gesture, his eyes widens at the scene before him.

Haystacks are scattered everywhere and four cows are at the right side of the place near the water containers in which they drink from. Now, to normal people, this is just a regular scene. But to Caiden? It's a whole different story.

He drops the crate he was carrying. "Are those...animals?"

"Uhhh, yeah? We are in a barn after all. Oh, sorry. Did you forget about these too? See, these are called cows - "

"No, I didn't forget about the animals. It's just that...I feel like I haven't seen this kind of animal up close in my entire life, you know?"

"Uh, I don't know."

One of the cows moo, making Caiden raise his eyebrows.

"Woah."

"Uh, we have other animals here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We have chickens and horses. We used to have pigs aswell but we sold them just a few days ago."

"Ah, I see."

"They stink anyway. So, how about we get back to the lifting?"

Hunk pats him twice on the shoulder before picking the crate up the ground and entering the barn. Caiden follows his lead and soon, they were able to finish the task. 

"How was it? Did anything went wrong?" Allura asks from the kitchen sink when they entered the house. "I hope not. I can only take care of one person for so long."

"Everything went well, sis." Hunk says as he throws himself on the couch, hands resting at the back of his head. "We moved the things that had to be moved. It was about time, to be honest. Those crates were stacked at the back of the house for too long."

"Yeah, because Lance is too lazy to do it and you're getting influenced by him."

"What? I always forget."

"Yeah, right!" She says as she scrubs a plate. "You're the older brother, show some authority around him!"

"He's too much of a cinnamon roll." Caiden says as he leans against the back of the coach.

"Caiden knows what it is! Fist bump."

Their fists bump.

"Oh, dear. This is just the first day you guys are really getting along with each other and you're already giving me a headache."

"Lighten up, sis. You should be more like Lance."

"See? Influenced!"

"Uhm, I'm just gonna look around the place." Caiden suddenly says. "You know, get more fresh air? I've been in bed for days."

"Oh." Hunk darts his head up. "Want me to stroll you around?"

"No, it's fine."

"While you're at it," Allura washes her hands, then wipes them dry in her long yellow skirt. She opens one of the cup boards just above her head and pulls out a small pack and a small bucket. She starts pouring some of the contents of the pack into the bucket using a cup. "Mind feeding the chickens? Lance forgot to feed them. I don't know what is going on with that kid. He's really starting to slack off. And I can't feed the chickens myself since I'm preparing for lunch."

"Hmm" was the only reply Caiden could give.

"You sure you can handle it alone? You might get startled by them." Hunk says.

"It's okay. They're just birds."

Allura hands him the bucket. "Here. You'll see the chicken coop just right ahead. Be careful, because sometimes they can really be a handful. And, don't step on them."

"O-Okay." He says, wide eyed. "I'll be going now."

"Good luck." Hunk waves.

As soon as Caiden steps out the screen door, he is immediately greeted by a strong breeze. It made his hair flip back and made him squint. He sees the chicken coop a few meters away from the house. He starts walking towards it.

Caiden supposes that he could live like this. It's so peaceful and quiet here. You can hear nothing but the distant noise of the chickens, the cows moo-ing, the birds chirping and the wind blowing. Whatever life he's left behind, he wishes not to go back to it and stay here instead. 

But the flashbacks of the past continues to haunt him.

Nevertheless, he wishes to live life like these kind people. They did, after all, offered them to be his new family. Well, except for Lance. Speaking of, Caiden looks at the minivan as he passes by it. The brunette isn't there, but the hood is still open and a tool box sits right next to the car's left tire. He continues walking and soon, he arrives to the chicken coop. 

The young boy's eyes widens and he unintentionally drops the bucket he's holding. Some of the grain got out of it and he picks what he can and puts it back into the container. He stands back up straight and noticed that all of the chickens - there's gotta be a hundred in here - are sqwuaking and are staring at him. Caiden looks over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching and laughing at him. Thankfully, he sees no one and he takes a deep breath.

He carefully steps one foot in and toss a handful of grain on the opposite side so the chickens can run off there. A majority of them did but the others flock over him and they start flapping their wings to try and get the bucket down to the ground. Caiden screams as the chickens fly on top of his shoulders, his head, and even tries to get on his nose. He flails his hands to try to get them off but that only made him drop the bucket. All of its contents scatters onto the ground and he eventually loses his balance. He lands butt first just at the entrance of the coop and watch helplessly as they peck on their food like hungry wild animals.

"What in quiznack's name are you doing?"

Caiden blinks and he looks up at the man standing at the entrance, his hands crossed and a frown tugging at his lips.

"What are you trying to do? Roll on chicken shit? Allura does the laundry you know and there's no way I'm gonna make her do yours because of the dirt you just put on yourself."

He sighs. "I was just trying to feed them."

"Well, you failed." Lance leans over to grab the fallen bucket and shakes out all of the remaining contents of it. "Dear, quiznack. Such a simple task and you can't do it right. Don't tell me you lost your common sense along with your memories."

"I...I'm sorry."

"Oh, god. What will your appology do? Get up. You might fall on one of them and kill them under your weight."

He does what he is told and he steps out of the chicken coop.

"Who told you to do this anyway?"

"Allura did."

"Why?"

"I was gonna look around the place and she asked me if I could feed the chickens aswell because you forgot to."

He sputters. "B-But I already - I...oh..." He puts a hand on his nape. "I did, didn't I? She's gonna kill me. And, why are you gonna have a look around the place, hm? Are you planning to steal stuff and leave?"

Caiden dusts off his shirt. "No. I just want some fresh air because it's been days since the last time I went out...whenever that was..."

"Right. All by yourself? Not suspicious at all."

"You know, you and I are both just finding out who I am, but I can assure you that I have no intentions to harm either one of you. Not even the farm animals."

"Ooohh, is that supposed to sooth me? Try again mullet. I don't believe you."

"Suit yourself." He makes a small smile. "Uh, you seem to have trouble with the minivan earlier."

Lance's cheeks slightly turns red. "No, I wasn't. I was just examining it. I know how to fix it."

"Uh, I can help?"

"What?"

"I think I know how to repair a few car parts?"

"Oh, so you forgot everything else but you remember how to fix a car?"

"Uhh?"

"Why are all the things that you say has a question to them? Are you asking or stating? Have you forgotten the correct intonations too?"

Caiden shrugs. "I'm not sure. You just make me nervous."

"W-what is that supposed to mean?!"

"You just make me nervous!" He raises his hands for emphasis as if that'll help Lance understand what he's talking about. When infact, he really doesn't know what he's talking about, but he does have this blush across his face at what he just heard. "Are you okay? Your cheeks are red."

"I'm fine!" He blurts. "What do you care?!"

"Uumm...nothing. I-I'm just gonna go on ahead and continue looking around the place." Caiden moves to walk pass Lance when the latter suddenly grabs him by the back of his sweat shirt and pull him towards the direction where the minivan is.

"Oh no you don't, mullet! You're coming with me. Let's test if you can really help me fix this van. Plus, I'm not just gonna let you wonder off the farm knowing that you might steal some of our stuff."

Caiden sighs as he lets the brunette drag him towards the vehicle. They stop and Lance lets go of his shirt.

"Alright, the car won't start and it's making loud wheezing noises. We just filled this car yesterday so there's no way it's because of it being out of juice."

"...Out of batteries then?"

Lance pinch his brows together. "What? No. I think there's something wrong with the engine."

"Lemme see."

Caiden nudges Lance away softly with his elbow and duckes to take a closer look at the hood. 

"Yep, I see the problem. When was the last time you changed the oil?"

"I never did. This is actually Allura's van. Hunk is always the one who fixes things if there's anything wrong with them. He just said that I should learn these things at my age. He isn't even showing me how to fix this!"

"Well," Caiden ducks out of the hood. "You have to change the oil every five thousand kilometers or else the car -or in this case the van- won't run smoothly. That's why it won't start and it makes a lot of wheezing noises."

Lance nods as he takes the information in, tapping a pondering finger against his chin. "Alright, alright. You really know what you're talking about, huh?"

"I don't know how, but I feel that I used to do this before."

"Some kind of a car repairman or somethin'?"

"I don't know. It would be Ironic since I got involved in a car crash. I should've known better than to approach a burning car."

"Sucks for you."

Caiden draws his lips into a thin line as he looks at Lance with a blank expression. "Do you want me to help you make your brother proud or what?"

"Do the honors, mullet."

"What's a mullet?"

"What?"

"A mullet. The one you just said. What is-"

"I know that you're asking what you're asking but seriously, you don't know what mullet means?"

Caiden shakes his head.

"So, you remembered how to fix cars but forgot what a mullet is? Or you haven't really heard of that word?"

He shrugs, "Is that bad?"

"Dude, I pity you so much. A mullet is a hideous hideous thing that is the destruction of our post modern time. It destroys the purpose of "the new" and it's very very hideous. And that hideous thing is sitting on your head."

The short boy instinctively raises a hand to his head. He frowns, "You mean my hair?"

Lance snaps his fingers. "Bingo! Your hair style sucks. It's seriously from the past century."

"Is it that bad?"

"Really bad. Now, come on. Teach me how to change the oil."

 

After they changed the oil, Lance decides to show Keith around the farm in return for helping him. He showed him places like where they stack hay, where the pigs they had used to stay, and finally, the horse sty. 

Caiden's jaw drops in awe, eyes wide staring at the three horses before him. They neighed at his presence.

"Wow."

"Never seen a horse before?" Lance asks.

"Not this up close." He points at the white horse infront of him. "Can I touch it?"

"Don't use "it". Use "her", and her name is Sherry."

"Oh, sorry. Can I pet Sherry?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Caiden flashes him a smile- to which Lance blushes- before slowly raising a careful hand to pet the horse's face. He smiles as Sherry accepts his polite gesture. 

Lance stares at the genuine grin on Caiden's face, how happy he is just by meeting Sherry. There's something about this boy that makes Lance want to make him happy.

"You... wanna go ride Sherry around the place?" Asked Lance hesitantly with a hand on his nape.

Caiden snaps back at him with wide eyes and a big smile. "Is it okay?!"

"Sure. I mean, you did help me with the van-"

"THIS IS SO COOL! THIS IS SO COOL!"

"Woah, there. Hold your horses, mullet. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I still don't trust you and I'll never will, that's why you're riding with the same horse as me."

"As long as I get to ride a horse, I'm down."

Lance raises an eyebrow then shrugs. They get ready for their little ride.

 

"This place is amazing." Caiden says as he lightly wraps his arms around Lance's torso as they move in a steady pace. The wind ruffles both boys' hair, which Caiden finds it very nice. "It's so peaceful here."

"Yeah, 'till you came along." Lance grumbles, upsetting Caiden.

"Sorry if my presence is such a hindrance to you."

"Dude, you sound like you're from the Medieval Period. No one talks like that anymore."

Caiden snorts, shakes his head then looks around the farm land. Suddenly, his vision darkens at the corners. His arms loosens from the brunette's torso, his head aches badly, and abruptly, he falls from the horse.

"Hey! Are you okay?!" He hears Lance's voice calling out to him and he sounds like he's so far away. 

He lies there on the grass, vision panning out as his hearing follows aswell. He hears the wind russling the grass, his hair, and he can feel it caressing his face. It's so peacful here.

The visions play out again.

It's so peaceful here, but only here.


	4. Flawed ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which these two share a piece of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WWWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
> 
> HELLO to all of you! It has been such a long time, sorry to keep you waiting, but I present to you, (DRUM ROLOLOL) the rushed trash that is chapter four of this fanfic! Hahahaha! Did you know that I actually bailed practice today held at school? So, since i got a lot of free time, I got a little motivated so I wrote this.I wanted to finish this in one day because I know if I don't, it's going to be another long time 'till I write again. So, I don't know what you'll think of this chapter, I hope it's worth the long wait. I can't wait to hear your feedback. It's gonna be another wait probably for the next chapter but I hope you enjoy this one hehehehe. Happy reading yah guys!.

He slowly opens his eyes to see a dark room before him. There's this dreadful feeling in his chest as he sits up from where he lies on the floor. The young boy realizes that it is the same nightmare he has been having almost every night. He's in the kitchen corner, hands once again hovering before his face as the the tall man throws plates at him, next a white flash and he meets the same scene where another stranger hits him with his belt. It hurts. 

Next, the woman who shoves his head down the toilet to almost drown him, then the last one, the man with the cigarette. Each assault, each hit, he feels it to his very bone, and his existence shakes to the very core from the excruciating pain. This is the time where he wakes up screaming, where he will escape this nightmare for the meantime.

But he doesn't.

He's not waking up at all. He still feels the cigarette butt against the skin of his pale back. Tears start rolling down his cheeks as he begs for the man to stop because it hurts really bad. After pleading several times, the pain suddenly disappears and the dark room too. Instead, the whole place is just plain white and nothing else was there. He looks around confused. He doesn't remember this part of his nightmare.

"Hey."

He jumps by the sudden echo-y voice. The young boy whips his head from left to right, and front to back to find the certain source of it. Nothing was there.

"Hey."

The voice says again, this time, the once plain area slowly morphs into an elegant, peaceful and nostalgic living room, with a fireplace lit up at the dim place. He's seated on a comfortable couch as his eyes widens while staring at this man infront of him. A man with a muscular build and a white forelock at the front of his hairline, sporting an undercut. The man has a horizontal long scar across his nose, he notes. He wonders where he got it from.

Unlike the previous persons he has encountered in this nightmare, this man seems to be different from all of them. For one; he isn't hurting him and seems like he has no intention to do so, two; he feels no dread in his chest, but a warm feeling of fondness instead, and three; he feels totally at ease, as if he doesn't mind not waking up from whatever this is only to be with him. Unlike the others, this man, he can see this one man's face clearly, with eyes round and grey as pearls, and has bags under his eyes. He feels a sense of incredulousness at this very fact as he blinks at the man sitting parallel to him.

"Hey - going? - tell you that- probably. What - these-?" The man talks in a soft and low tone that is very endearing, but for some reason, he couldn't make out what the man was saying. 

He feels himself responding automatically without even thinking. It's like being in the same room where you see youself and another person talking to each other and just watch them as they have a conversation like you're not even there.

He hears himself reply in a nonchalant tone, "- good to - but - s bad for- I'm sad- very- ressed." 

The man talks again, but with the same scrambled connection of words yet he still has that calming tone of voice. Suddenly, he sees something on his eyes, making his vision blurry. Oh, tears? Is he crying? What made him cry? The man suddenly approaches him and hugs him tightly. Judging by this, he must be someone who he trusts because he hugs him back with longing. Tears roll down his cheeks as he tightens the arms wrapped around the man's torso.

The man pulls back to look at him. "I just - not alone anymore. - love you- believe- kay?"

 

He wakes up and slowly opens his eyes, a tear rolling down his right cheek.

Caiden finds himself staring up at a plain white ceiling, a single question echoing in his head: What the fuck happened? He's getting a very odd case of de ja vue at the moment. For a few seconds, he just lies there, recalling the events that took place before he had unceremoniously passed out. Suddenly, the bed room door opens to reveal a person he least expects to be seeing first thing in the morning.

Lance has a determined expression on his face as he stares down at the tray he's holding, probably making sure that the glass pitcher and the drinking glass on it won't fall off, thinking it won't just because he's staring at it. The lanky boy kicks the door close behind him as he walks towards the center of the room where the bed is. His eyes lit up and his eyebrows raised when he sees Caiden awake.

"Oh, you're awake," Lance says with a nonchalant tone, fighting back the concern in his voice. "The guy who likes passing out. I gotta tell ya, that is not a good hobby if you ask me."

The dark haired boy doesn't meet his eyes. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Anytime. I thought you might be hungry by the time you wake up so I brought you breakfast."

"You cooked breakfast? For me?" Caiden blinks, finally meeting Lance's gaze.

"Nope, hell no. Allura made it and told me to make sure that I give you some...with a wink, apparently. I still don't know what she meant by that." The man folds his arms across his chest after setting the tray on the small table beside his bed. "But I tried my best not to put some poison in it, or atleast any chicken shit. Allura would be pissed if I did. I mean, not that I'm that scared of her, but she does get scary sometimes, especially when she's very furious on something I fucked up at, or even a small thing that Hunk has forgotten, but besides that --- "

And this is the part where the young boy realizes that behind the cold, protective front, Lance is just another guy who rambles a lot without even realizing it.

" ----- so yeah, she's pretty cool." He finishes and drops both of his hands to his sides, a frown on his face. "Why am I even telling you this?"

"It's okay. I like listening to you." He says as if it was the most natural thing in the world, eyes staring back up at the ceiling and never moving.

"What?" Lance crosses his arms again, a light blush on his cheeks. "Is that another way of saying that I talk a lot?"

He darts his eyes sharply at him, "It was supposed to be compliment."  
Caiden notice the way Lance's expression turns from sour into subtly intimidated. He sighs before sitting up with a grunt, the blanket on top of him now sliding down onto his lap, exposing his bare chest. Wow, do they really have to strip him when he gets knocked unconscious? "I'm sorry. I'm a bit worked up over something."

"What's got your panties in a twist?"

"It's...something." He looks up at him, finding an eyebrow raised and an unamused expression on his face. "Not that I don't want to talk to you, but can I talk to Allura instead?"

"She's not here."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Allura and Hunk went to the city for groceries, as well as checking up on Coran and the restaurant they're handling."

"Oh." He looks at his bare feet before looking back at Lance. "Why aren't you with them?"

"They forced me to stay here and look after you. I guess it's for the best rather than leaving either Hunk or Allura with you here alone. Who knows what might happen."

"You let me help you fix the van and you still don't trust me enough not to murder your family?

"Basically, yeah. Even when I let you ride on Sherry."

"Sherry?" Confusion paints his face before recognition flits into his features. "Oh, that's right! The horse you let me ride with you."

"Yup, that was when you passed out. They blamed me for it."

"Really? Sorry for putting you guys into so much trouble."

"You should be." Lance frowns, but clears his throat when he sees Caiden's sad look. "But they completely understand it anyway."

"That's nice." He still looks sad, making Lance anxious in wanting to make him feel better for a reason he doesn't know. Caiden takes the tray on his lap, thanks Lance for bringing him the meal, and begins poking at the Sunnyside-up on his plate. Lance just stands there for a moment, aware of how Caiden seems so down this morning. He puts his hand on his nape as he tries to think of a way to let him see that wide smile of his to brighten up his day.

"Hey," Lance blurted, much to Caiden's surprise, and even to his own. The young boy looks expectantly up at him, waiting for whatever Lance has to say. If the brunette was being honest, he doesn't fucking know what to tell him, but what he does know is that he wants to put a smile on that sad, sad face. "When you're feeling better, we can continue our horseback riding with Sherry. Sounds good?"

The young boy can only stare at him for a moment. He blinks and his lips slowly form a small smile. It's not the kind of smile Lance wanted, but it's still a win. "Yeah, sounds good."

Butterflies worked their way up from Lance's stomach up to his chest and they're fucking fluttering the flying fuck out of him. His cheeks burned dark red and he sucks in a sharp breath as electricity shocks him in his veins and shaking his very being. But that doesn't mean anything, right? Maybe this damn boy has some kind of special powers and is using it to make him feel all sorts of weird, confusing emotions? Yeah, that's got to be it.

"Anyway!" The lanky boy claps his hands together once as one of the butterflies is flying infront of him and he's trying to kill it. "I'll be feeding the animals. If you need anything, you know where the kitchen is and where to find the bathroom."  
Caiden shoots him a skeptic look before he speed walks toward the door and swings it open, then leaves.

As soon as the door closes behind him, he leans his back and tilt his head against it, clutching his chest where his heart is. "That boy is going to be the death of me," he mutters, breathlessly. "What is going on with you, Lance? The moment you find someone as your age, you quickly let yourself be at ease with them." He pats both of his cheeks several times before puffing air out of his mouth. "Keep your walls up, they all leave in the end." 

 

\-----------

 

With his hands holding the tray, Caiden steps out of the room fully clothed. He's wearing Lance's old blue tank top and black shorts. It was a bit big on him, but he can manage. He saunters towards the kitchen sink and dumps his tray there. The young boy realizes that Lance left the small radio, sitting upon the counter top on his left, on. It was playing some sort of jazzy and playful tune, making Caiden's foot tap into the beat as he grabs the sponge and starts scrubbing his plate.

"That has been "Happy" by Pharrel Williams. Kaltinecker radio will be back after a short break." The radio announces and it switches to some advertisements. Suddenly, a news break comes in.

"Good morning, folks! This is Altea News Break here to bring you the latest issues and updates happening in Altea City in just under 5 minutes." The young boy wonders how far the city could be. Could it be where Allura and Hunk headed off to? " The buzzing news about Mayor Takashi's lost nonbiological brother, Keith Kogane, still has no further lead as of now. Investigators believe that the Mayor's brother has been involved with a crime of using drugs and not abiding with the rules of the authority because of this young boy's history with illegal meds and records of arrest. This may affect the Mayor's image in the upcoming elections. The Mayor has sworn that Kogane has stopped doing this a long time ago and was on the road of recovery."

Caiden wiped the plate, drinking glass, and the utensils dry before carefully returning them into their rightful places. After drying his hands against his shorts, he walks several steps towards the door to see where Lance is when he stops in the middle of the room to turn back to the radio, apprehension printed on his face.

"This is a message Mayor Takashi wish to broadcast from his recent interview with the press: "Keith"." Caiden's brows furrows when he hears the familiar voice. "Wherever you are, I'm going to find you. I know you're out there and you're scared, but please stay strong. I'm doing everything I can to find you. Just remember that I --- "

"Mullet head?"

The young boy looks back at the door to see Lance holding an empty bucket, a questioning look on his face. "Shouldn't you be at bed? Allura told me to specifically not let you out of bed because, you know, you're still recovering from passing out."

"Oh, I just washed the dishes? Because it is the least that I can do when you guys made me breakfast?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"Yes?"

Lance runs a hand down his face and gives him a flat look.

"I mean," Caiden clears his throat. "Yes."

This made the corner of Lance's lip to quirk up a bit, promising a smile, but then Caiden blinks and he's giving him that frown of his once more.

"I'll be held responsible if anything happens to you, not that I care what happens to you, but because Allura and Hunk do. So, if you don't mind and walk the walk to your room, mullet boy?"

"But I feel fine now."

"That was what we thought before you passed out in the middle of horseback riding."

"But it's so booooorrring." Caiden drawls, making him seem out of character. "The room is like, plain white. I feel like I'm in a mental hospital and it's driving me insane! What do you do for fun?"

"Huh, you should be thankful that you even have your own room, even if it's plain white! And I don't do fun."

"What? You don't? You don't play videogames?" 

"Why? Do you?"

"I feel like I did?"

Lance groans, "You know, saying "I feel like I did" or "I feel like I do", doesn't exactly back up what you're trying to say is right or trying to convince someone that it's the truth. Especially at court: you can't just say that and expect the judge to agree with you right away."

Caiden lets out a small breathy chuckle.

"Why are you chuckling?"

"It's like you're more of a mother correcting a child than Allura is."

"Hey, I am not!" Lance puts his hands on his hips.

He chuckles once more, "But seriously, what do you do for fun or at least, during your free time? What do you do then?"

The brunette puts a hand on his nape as he hums in thought. "Read Comics?"

Caiden's eyes lit up, "You mean Marvel?"

"I wish."

"Then DC?"

"Ew, no."

He flinched. "Why ew? They're cool. Batman is cool."

"Batman is too EMO, except he has more money so he has more expensive stuff in black."

"Superman?"

"Is a huge nerd who wears bright red briefs over his pants? If you count that as cool, I won't let you ride Sherry anymore."

"Harsh."

"Well, Wonder Woman is hot."

"Not my type."

"*Gasps! What the fuck? Dude, she's literally a goddess!"

"She's...okay? Her character is too...eh."

"You have major problems."

"I have amnesia, if that's not a problem, I don't know what is. But seriously, what comics do you have?"

"Ever heard of Voltron: Legendary Defender?"

Caiden shakes his head, making Lance drop the bucket he was holding.

"You're missing out on a lot, dude. No wonder you have a mullet, you're really not from this century!"

"Is not knowing it really that bad?"

"Yes! It is!" With that, the young boy watch as Lance locks the front door and grabs Caiden's wrist to drag him into his room. The brunette lets go and goes back to the kitchen to turn off the radio and put the bucket back where he got it from. He walks pass Caiden, who's standing just right outside his door, and enter his room. The aforementioned boy glances back at the radio, longing in his eyes, before Lance pokes his head back out from behind the door.

"C'mere." He says with a smirk, the first positive thing that Caiden has ever seen from his face. "Trust me, when you get started on this, you're never going to ever stop until you've finished reading all of it." 

"Sounds cool." He steps into the room after glancing over his shoulder to look at the radio once more. He closes the door behind him. The young boy's eyebrows shot up when he sees Lance on the floor with his collection of comics sprawled infront of him, and boy those are A LOT of comic books. Despite the mess, Lance's room still looked as neat as it was the first time he get to be in here.

"Welcome to Heaven." He says with arms outstretched either of his sides, his chest puffed out and a proud grin is on his face like a king in his big feast at the center of a very long table filled with food. "Also known as, "Lancey-Lance's domain."

He bites back a laugh.

"What?"

"Lancey-Lance?"

He blushed. "It was once my nickname! Don't judge!"

"I'm not judging, it's cute!"

"No one," he points a finger to him, "calls me cute!" 

Caiden gently pushes his hand away, "Totally cute."

Lance grunts. "Shut up and sit down, mullet. As you can see, these are all the volumes of the first issue of Voltron. Here, read the very first issue! It's about the first paladins. I'm sure you'll love Zarkon and Alfor!"

"Wow, the cover looks great." He eyes the cover where there are gigantic robotic...cats? That's what Caiden thinks they are. The robotic cats are apparently color coded. There's yellow, blue, red, green and black. In the center, there's this huge robot holding a huge sword. There are five people wearing some kind of futuristic armor and they're also color coded. "I can already tell that this is going to be a good one."

"It's better than good!" For the very first time, Lance grins at him, and it completely caught him off guard that he can't help but stare. He feels different now that Lance isn't that so suspicious of him. It feels odd, but he kinda likes this side of him. You know, the side that doesn't want to tear his guts out every second he breathes, eat and sleeps in this house? Yeah, that.

Not knowing else what to do, Caiden smiles back as brightly as he can before opening the comic book and reading the first page with pure interest. He hears a few coughs from the apparently flustered Lance. He looks up to see the brunette's nose digging into a comic book while his eyes are on him, frowning. Caiden gives him a concerned look, and Lance raises a thumb in return. They go back to reading.

 

After a few hours has gone by, the dark haired boy puts down the third issue on his lap and rubs his eyes with the back of his hands. He notice Lance is so engrossed in the comic book he's currently reading that he's pretty sure he forgot that Caiden was even there. He yawns and stretches his arms above his head, making his shirt lift up a bit to expose some of his pale skin. When he was done stretching, he can see the brunette eyeing him. What's his problem?

"So, pretty cool huh?" Lance starts.

"Definitely, but my eyes kind of hurt now."

"Pfft, weak."

"One does not just read a good story straight on! The eyes need rest."

"Still weak." Lance frowns.

Caiden shrugs, then stares at the poster with the astronaut giving a thumbs up while floating. "I like that poster though. Looks cool."

"What? Oh, yeah. Sometimes I forget it's even there."

"You really gave up on your dream?"

"I didn't gave up, I just did what I had to do for the family."

"Did Allura and Hunk said so?"

"No, in fact, they were against the idea."

"Oh, then who told you it was for the family?"

Lance frowned and looked down at his finger nails. It looked like he wasn't going to answer so Caiden was about to ask another question when he speaks again.

"My parents. As you can see, they're not here."

"Oh...is it okay if I ask what happened to them? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I can understand why."

Lance sucks in a deep breath and looks at him, "How am I so sure that I can trust you and your mullet?"

"You don't have to force yourself to trust me...or my mullet?"

He sighs. "Well, you see...dad went..." He sucks in a shaky breath before running a frustrated hand through his hair. "I can't. I thought I can, but I can't.

"It's okay, fine, cool." Caiden says.

"I'm just gonna step out for a bit."

He can see the sour look on his face and he know it was because of him bringing up his parents. Curiosity can be dangerous. No wonder there's a saying that curiosity kills. Lance stands up and heads towards the door. 

"You can eat lunch. There's food in the fridge. Allura said you should sleep in the afternoon so sleep after you digest your food. If you need me, I'll check out the barn."

Before Caiden can say anything, Lance was already gone.

\-------------

 

Lance swings his bedroom door open, only to see Caiden sprawled on the floor, sleeping. He sighs. It's already past seven. He realizes that the mullet head must've fallen asleep while reading some more of the comic books. This thought made him smile and shake his head. He walks towards him and fixes all the comic books back to his book shelf. After that, he crouched infront of Caiden and pats him gently on his cheek.

"Hey, mullet head, wake up."

"Hmmm??"

"Wake up, mullet. You fell asleep in my room."

"Mmhhmmm??"

"Get up, now."

"Mmhhmm..."

Lance sighs.

The brunette sits on the floor back leaning against the wall. He just watch as Caiden lay there, uncaring of the world. He wonders what it feels like, to forget your past.

But that would mean forgetting your family, and forgetting who you are or who you were. 

Lance isn't sure he could handle that. He comes to realize that he has been such a huge jerk to him this whole time. It must be scary to be in such a foreign land, not knowing who you are and where you are. Caiden's doing a pretty good job.

Of course, he won't say that out loud.

Caiden tosses himself to his right on his sleep. The brunette frowns at a scar at the back of the young boy's shoulder. He got down on all fours and crawled forward to inspect the scar and that's when terror hits him.

Dozens of tiny dark colored scars are imprinted on the his left shoulder, a stark contrast against his pale skin. They look like they've been burned, they look like they've hurt. He wishes he hadn't lifted up Caiden's tank top to inspect more of his back, because he what he saw made him gasp silently.

Seeing the number of vertical scars that run down the young boy's body made his lips tremble. Who would do such a thing? Or is this part of the car crash? Highly unlikely. They look old scars. Did he did this to himself? Or did someone abused him? Was this what his "bad dreams" were about? Where he used to shout in horror in the middle of the night? If it is, he had been such an ass and a douche for being such a sour berry to Caiden. Lance might be dealing with emotional pain, but Caiden had dealt with both actual and emotional pain. Yet that damn boy can still fucking smile brightly like nothing ever happened to him. The brunette finds himself gently stroking the long vertical scars with the pad of his fingers, feeling rough, damaged skin underneath them. He realizes what he was doing. He pulls his hand away and looks at the boy's face, only to find him staring up at him.

"Goddess, you startled me." Lance clutches his heart.

"Are you okay?" was the first thing that came out of Caiden's mouth. "I'm sorry about bringing up your parents. Clearly something happened and I'm not supposed to dig my nose into it."

Lance waves a hand. "It's alright. I can tell you."

He sits up. "You will?"

"Yeah, I think I'm ready to tell you."

"Great, I'm li---"

"---If you tell me where you got those scars on your back."

"Oh." He shrugs. "Allura and Hunk thought that I might've been abused from my past? Foster parents, Hunk guessed? Can't remember exactly how it got there."

"Oh...that's sad to hear."

"But the odd thing is, after I passed out, the visions of me being abused played out as it always does in my sleep. But afterwards, there's this man who finally treated me right, like a family, like I belong."

"Do you recognize him?"

Caiden slowly shakes his head. "No, but I felt at ease with him, like I can trust him. What about you? I answered the question. Your turn."

"Well..." He puts a hand on his nape. "You see, our dad was a drunk and was active in gambling. That had been the death of him. It only took one night to end a crumbling successful man's life. He left us this farm. He might've been a drunk, but before he got into all the bad stuff, he was a very successful person. I lost so much respect for him when I always find him drunk all the time. I looked up to him, but he left our lives. And there's mom, who instead of taking care of us, went to under man right after dad's death. She brings us money once in a while. This is why I don't trust people other than my family because they leave anyway. And by family, I mea. Allura and Hunk and I, excluding my parents."

"I can understand where you're coming from, and I'm very sorry about it all."

"Yeah, well...that's there. We got nothing to do about that. Anyway, we're doing great now." Lance frowns as he throws his hands up in the air. "AGAIN, WHY AM I EVEN TELLING YOU THIS?!"

Caiden tosses his head back and laughs out loud. "I guess I have my charms to get you to tell me anything."

The brunette blushes and folds his arms across his chest. "Charm my fine ass!"

Caiden smiles brightly at him, and for the first time ever, Lance smiles brightly back.

"Wanna read some more comics?" Lance asks.

"Oh, dear gahd no! I'm tired af. As much as I'd like to, but I need to go back to sleep." He stands up and head towards the door. "Uhh, G'd night Lance?"

"Ppffft, even that has a question to it." Lance smirks and salutes in return. "Oh, and thank you for listening...you know, to me. I never really talk to Allura or Hunk about it."

Caiden nods and tosses one last smile over his shoulder, then leaves.


	5. He's not you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caiden talks to Allura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit rushed and shorter. Probably the shortest among the previous updates. Want to finsih this asap because I know i might abandon this if I don't. I changed the plot a bit. Let me know what u think, enjoyl

It was before sunrise when Lance enthusiastically runs out of the screen door when their truck entered the farm field. It parked a good distance away from the house. The passenger door opens, and Allura steps out with a smile as she watch Lance run towards her to slam into her embrace.

"Hello, Lance." She greeted. "Is Caiden still alive?"

He snapped his head up, arms wrapped around his sister's torso. "Of course! Who do you think I am? I'm the best babysitter there is!"

"Says who?" Hunk snorts as he steps out of the truck. "We're the ones babysitting you all the time."

"I am not a baby!" He pulls away from his sister to cross his arms and pout at his older brother. "Caiden is!"

Allura smirks. "So, you call him baby now? I wonder what you two have been up to while we were away."

"What?! Nothing! And I don't call him that!"

Hunk juts his hip out to one side, "Whatever you say. Oh! And Coran says hi."

"Cool. How's the restaurant?"

"Doing absolutely splendid!" Allura puts her hands together. "They said that it is quickly growing as one of the most famous and most visited restaurant in Altea city. Busy place there. I am honestly sorry for Coran handling all of the work. So, I thought we'd stay there for a few weeks to help out on things."

"Especially when a few of the employees quit due to stress. Coran isn't very nice when he has a lot of work in his hands."

Lance beams, "We'll stay?! In the city?!"

"Yes, but only for a few weeks. Aunt Loonie and Uncle Fred, along with our cousins, agreed to look after the farm while we're away." Allura says.

"That's great! I miss the city! I can finally hang out with Katie again."

"Remember," she puts a hand on her hip. "We'll stay to help out on the restaurant, not to play."

"Give the kid a break, Allura. After all, he did managed not kill Caiden while we were away." Hunk glares at the brunette. "Atleast, that's what he said he did."

"You don't have to worry about anything." He puts a hand up. "Everything's perfectly fine."

"I'll see that for myself." She says."Did you feed the chickens? The cows? The horses? Did you cut the grass behind the house that was growing taller and taller by the second? Did you clean the chicken coop? The stable? The minivan? The barn?"

"Uhh...I did..."

"You did?!"

"...some of them..."

She sighs.

Hunk, with a smile, pats Allura on the back. "It's okay, sis. For now, let him help us take the groceries in."

"Alright. Call Caiden to help us as well."

"We don't need him. You got me! I'm very strong, I could carry the whole truck for you!"

"You haven't changed a bit since we were gone." There's a playful smile on on her lips as she shakes her head.

 

-

 

Allura, who is sitting on the couch in the living room, quietly furls the clean clothes into the basket. She hears a door open, but she doesn't need to look up to know who it is.

"Good morning, Caiden." She looks up with a smile, but it drops when she sees his face. "Goodness! What happened to you? Have you gotten a fever?"

His hair is sticking up in different directions, some of it are sticking on the side of his face. He has dark circles under his eyes and those eyes are watery and red. His visage looks a bit oily.

"You guys are back." He tries to give her a smile. " It was boring when you guys weren't around."

"Last time I checked, Lance was a great entertainer...with his...babbling. still," She sets aside the shirt she was folding and stands up to check if he has a fever. "You don't look so good."

She continues to feel for a fever when Caiden stops her by holding her wrist gently. "I'm fine. I just..didn't get any sleep."

"You didn't? For the whole night?"

"Well, yes. I tried. I thought the moment I'd hit my head on the pillow, I'd be all out. I just kept tossing and turning the whole night 'till sunrise. I thought it was because I slept in the afternoon, but..."

"But what? Something was bothering you? You can tell me."

"I know. Something came up in my dream, or vision, or possibly another piece of memory. I knew I just had to tell you. But of course, you just had a long trip from the city."

"Nonsense. I have two ears and they're ready to listen to whatever it is that kept you up all night. Did you tell Lance about it?"

"I didn't think he'd understand." He glares at no one in particular. "I didn't think he'd care at that time."

"At that time." She repeats under her breath and thinks that something did happened between the two of them while they were away. "Let's talk about it over tea."

"That would be great."

They head towards the kitchen, leaving the clothes yet to furl forgotten for now. Caiden sits down on one of the chairs around the table while Allura prepares the tea.

"So, tell me what has been bothering you." She says when she gave him a cup of tea.

"Remember the dreams that I've been having over and over?"

"Mmm-hmmm."

"They played again when I passed out the other day. It was the same."

"Okay..."

"Except for one thing."

This gets Allura's attention.

"There was this new guy who appeared after all of it."

"Did he hurt you too?"

"That's the thing, he didn't. We were talking in hushed tones. I didn't get all of the words, but I knew that he was comforting me. We even hugged. And unlike the rest, I could see his face clearly."

She sits upright, "What does he look like?"

"I can't exactly remember the specific details, but I do know that he's very muscular and kind."

"That could be anyone."

"I know, but I felt familiarity and ease with him. I even thought he was the guy on the radio the other day."

"What?" Allura blurts after taking a sip of her tea. "You recognize his voice over the radio? Do you know who was speaking?"

"I think his name is Tamashi?"

"Tamashi? That's certainly a name I haven't heard before, but it sounds familiar."

"Says he's the mayor of Altea City. Is that were you and Hunk were from?"

She gasps, "Mayor of Altea City? You mean Takashi Shirogane? You think the man in your dream is the mayor of Altea City?!"

"Well, he is looking for someone right?"

"Honey," Allura takes a deep breath. "Just because he's looking for someone, doesn't mean it's you. Unless...your real name is Keith Kogane?"

"Keith Ko what now?"

"I should've known." She sighs. "Do you really think that you're the mayor's lost nonbiological son? You're far from him because he's a lot younger." She frowns, "And a pain in the neck."

"How so?"

"That kid has been doing drugs and going in and out of rehab. He's nothing but trouble in Takashi's political view. I don't understand why he even wants that rascal back in his life."

"Have you met him?"

"Well, he has always been in the news because of his involvement with drugs. Probably, that kid has a strong bond with Takashi that's why he's still looking for him. I guess it was wrong for me to judge, but I lose so much respect for people who get involve with drugs. Ugh."

"Wow, sounds like he is really a pain in the neck."

"You, however, are far from his rebellious attitude, Caiden. You're kind, brave, and industrious. I have learned that in just the short time we've lived under the same roof."

"People make mistakes. They can change, right? What if that was me? What would you think of me then?"

"People change, alright. But not Keith. And trust me when I say that he's not you, and you're not him."

He stares down at his cup. "I...I still want to meet the mayor."

Allura's eyes widens. "You want to meet the mayor? That is a very...extravagant request..."

"If you please?" He stares back up into her eyes, pleading. "I've been dying to know what's going on and what happened to me. I know it's a bit selfish and you've already helped me lots and loads, but just one more. I have a feeling in my gut, and that's the only thing I have right now. Please? I just want to know."

They stare at each other's eyes for a moment, before Allura sighs in defeat.

"How could I say no to you?"

He smiles widely. "So, you'll take me there?"

"You're in luck. We were planning to stay in the city for a few weeks to help with the restaurant there. We could help you too."

"What about the farm?"

"Our uncle, aunt and cousins agreed to watch after things while we're away."

 

"I see." 

 

Both Allura and Caiden turn their heads to the voice. It was Lance and Hunk standing in the living room. Hunk's face is covered in concern, while Lance glared at Caiden like his life depended on it. Caiden flinched.

"You're going to leave us. I knew it. I was right."

"Lance, I - "

He turns his back to them and storms out of the house.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to write down what you think of this. Remember, I am a car who runs on kudos and comments to keep going XD Hugs and kisses! <3


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